There is no, one definite, way to measure the impact or success of a PR campaign. But, companies generally invest money in PR campaigns hoping to create some impact. When we measure the impact, we can find loopholes in the campaign. Unfortunately, there isn’t one specific method by which we can measure the effectiveness of a PR campaign. Here we shall discuss some possible methods using which you could find your ideal approach.
How do you start measuring your PR Campaign Effectiveness?
Don’t be disheartened. While there is no specific measure for your PR campaign’s effectiveness, the evolution of social media management tools makes our task easy. They offer ways to measure your PR campaign’s effectiveness.
Traffic on your Website
The most obvious indicator of a successful campaign would be an increased inflow of visitors to your website. Straight metrics like ‘visitors per day’ can only tell you half the story though. A deeper look will analyze your web traffic to reveal the demographics. This would throw light on who you need to target more often.
Surveys
One way you can get definite answers is by asking the people themselves. Most PR professionals conduct market research surveys to track the impact of their PR campaigns and to measure their success. Yet it’s also worthwhile for you to seek the first-hand opinion of your audience. Are they aware of your campaign? Did they receive your message? Did they like the campaign? Most importantly, would they opt for your product based on the campaign?
Monitoring Brand Mentions
Evaluating your brand’s performance across different platforms is also crucial. Set up a social media monitoring tool to get notified every time there’s a mention of your brand. Additionally, social listening tools also help you decipher the overall sentiment around your brand. If they are satisfied with your services, connect with them and raise awareness further. Propose to collab with them and turn them into your brand influencers.
Engagement on Social Media
Social media metrics tell you how large the audience pool is for your campaign. The greater the engagement rate, the better the awareness. Anyone sharing, commenting or asking about your campaign or the promoted service/product (or, a similar product) is a potential customer. These actions of your audience members tell you how successful your campaign really is. Monitoring the engagement metrics for your PR campaign helps you gauge the effectiveness of your message. If it hasn’t worked, you may want to tweak the content or your approach and try again.
Sales Numbers
Last but not least, any product-based company knows that a spike in sales is proof that their campaign has worked. PR campaigns may not bring hundreds of customers to your door in a single night. However, with time, a successful campaign does generate significant sales. If you have a multi-location presence and sales haven’t picked up yet at a particular location, you may have to revise your PR strategy for that location. Also, it is key that you focus your marketing and sales activities on lucrative locations or during peak season.
In a world bustling with social media trends and influencers, the importance of PR campaigns cannot be overlooked. Having invested time efforts and money into a PR campaign, it is logical for you to try and track its effectiveness. We hope the ideas provided above can help you do so.